More results...
Electric Results is an electrical maintenance business that also does energy efficiency audits and lighting upgrades. They operate out of offices on Port Road in Queenstown, South Australia and have forged a reputation as an organisation that can source, supply and install energy saving solutions for businesses feeling the pinch of steep electricity prices.
Recently they combined with Haneco Lighting and the electrical wholesaler Haymans Electrical to upgrade the lighting at the Adelaide offices of the international scientific equipment supplier Thermo Fisher Scientific. The general manager of Electric Results, Stefan Hoffman, is of the view that “reducing output is the first thing you do. Solar comes last. My idea is that a lighting upgrade is the lowest hanging fruit.”
The savings figures he quoted for the job clearly show the benefits of these easy pickings. Lighting alone at Thermo Fisher cost $32,785 a year. After replacing the lighting with LEDs, the annual cost is projected to drop to $13,554. That delivers a 58% reduction in costs and very substantial saving of $19,231.
More than 90% of the new LED lights at Thermo Fisher Scientific are from Haneco. Thermo Fisher Scientific is located at Adelaide’s airport with an extensive office and warehouse complex using 385 LED panels, 31 high output downlights, 37 battens and 79 industrial highbays. The LED panels are called GALAXY and replace groups of fluorescent tubes behind a screen with a crisp flat rectangle of clean light that doesn’t accumulate dust. The large downlights are CENTAURI and not only offer the choice of 3 colour temperatures on one fitting, but can be switched from 20W to 30W as the need arises. The battens are VISTA which don’t have tubes that need constant replacing and are awkward to dispose of. Finally there is the SKYPAD, a highly efficient highbay that can really cut costs.
But it’s not just the cost cutting that impresses clients. When the first office at Thermo Fisher was complete Stefan said one of the mangers “was rapt with it and goes ‘look, the light itself is brilliant’, but he was a little bit concerned that when we do the other rooms they’ll be too bright.” Dimmers easily dealt with his concern, but Stefan points out that one for one replacement does sometimes produce brighter light, particularly as upgrades typically replace conventional bulbs toward the end of their useful life.
Efficiency is one thing, but Electric Results are also well aware of the gains to be made in maintenance. The outdoor lighting at Thermo Fisher consisted of fifteen 250W floodlights. These were replaced by Haneco’s 100W LUCIDO LED floods which draw a good deal less than half the power. But they also saved the maintenance hassle because “the issue we had with these [original] fittings is we couldn’t open them to replace any globes – they were down fairly close to the beach and so they rusted out.” Haneco’s PARX floodlights made from marine grade aluminium would easily deal with that sort of environment.
Stefan sees the future of LED lighting in its continual innovation. Daylight harvesting sensors and standby dimming controls have obvious potential “’cos these big warehouses, they come in, they turn the lights on during the day and then people aren’t there, there’s skylights, there’s ample light regardless, but they’ll turn them on – that’s the way they work, they always have.” He appreciates that Haneco are using Tritone, a way of having a selection of 3 different colour temperatures on the one light: “the fact that you guys took the initiative and changed to a multi-coloured downlight is brilliant.” He envisages the introduction of LED circadian lighting that matches the natural pattern of daylight as a further efficiency, making offices and schools more productive as well as using less energy. For now, however, Haneco and Electric Results have to content themselves with helping businesses dramatically cut their power bills.
Sign up to receive company and industry news, product information and more!